Here's an interesting story about an online gambling operator that's more into creating jobs for his First Nations community than adding to his own personal wealth.
Next month, Gerry Gionet will launch All Nations Casino, a new online gambling brand and a new hope for First Nations and Tribes in North America. First Nations entrepreneur Gerry Gionet, the driving force behind the new venture, is the President and CEO of Golden Arrow which will manage the new online casino’s operations and marketing.
All Nations Casino will be a deluxe, full-service online casino, lottery and sportsbook. It will be owned and managed by First Nations staff and will reflect the values and spirit of that community. It will even feature a selection of tribal-themed slots. But it will welcome players from across Canada or anywhere in the world.
The venture will run on the Alteatec iGaming Management System. Altea Gaming will provide games, software and affiliate systems. Initially, there will be about 300 slots and table games. The sportsbook will be linked with one of the biggest German sportsbooks, Tipster.de (formerly Bet90).
Having run a large-scale construction company and managed major construction projects in the Alberta oil sands, Gionet is a savvy businessman and a respected leader within the First Nations community that he serves. His motives in launching this online casino are different than most.
"Low world oil prices have resulted in widespread unemployment among First Nations people in this part of the world," said Gionet from the office in Redwood Meadows, Alberta, where he overseas his construction business. "And the community is still rebuilding after last summer's devastating wildfires. From marketing to customer service, igaming creates clean, sustainable, professional jobs. Our people need work and opportunity. We're doing this to create jobs – good jobs – for First Nations people."
"Our economic future continues to be focused on creating meaningful jobs including projects such as this," said Eric Tootoosis of the Poundmaker Nation in support of the project.
This isn't Gionet’s first foray into the online gambling business. In 2012, he created GEObet, a turnkey igaming platform for taking Indian communities online. Gionet was unhappy with the management company he'd contracted, though. He wanted more control of his own company and he wanted more jobs created for his own people. He shut down GEObet and rebuilt from the ground up.
"We learned a lot from that first venture," said Gionet. "We were paying our management company too much and didn’t have enough control over our own business. This time it’s different."
Golden Arrow Worldwide will launch All Nations Casino in March.
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